Current Affairs Update – 21st April, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 21st April, 2015.

• Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd has entered into MoUs with New
  India Assurance Company Ltd and Life Insurance Corporation of India to provide
  insurance cover to its accountholders.
• The insurance covers are being provided under the Pradhan
  Mantri Jan Suraksha Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevanjyoti Bima Yojana
  schemes respectively.
• The insurance option is voluntary and comes at a premium of
  Rs. 12 for the PM Jan Suraksha Bima Yojana and Rs. 330 for the PM Jeevanjyoti
  Bima Yojana.
• The age eligibility under the former is 18-70 years and
  under the latter 18-50 years. The enrolment period under the schemes will be
  from June 1, 2015, to August 31, 2015.

• The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize
  Board for work during the 2014 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated
  finalists were announced on April 20, 2015.
• The Pulitzer Prize  is
  an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and
  musical composition in the United States.

• Pulitzer Prize for International
  Reporting in Journalism: The New York Times Staff
• Pulitzer Prize for Breaking
  News Reporting: The Seattle Times Staff
• Pulitzer Prize for
  Fiction Novel: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Pulitzer Prize for
  Drama: Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis
• Pulitzer Prize for
  History Novel: Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the
  Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn
• Pulitzer Prize for
  Biography: The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the
  Rise of Fascism in Europe by David I. Kertzer
• Pulitzer Prize for
  Poetry: Digest by Gregory Pardlo
• Pulitzer Prize for
  General Non-fiction: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by
  Elizabeth Kolbert
• Pulitzer Prize for
  Music: Anthracite Fields by Julia Wolfe

• Pakistan on Tuesday conferred its top civilian award
  ‘Nishan-e-Pakistan’ on Chinese President Xi Jinping for his outstanding
  contribution in promotion of relationship between the two countries.
• The ceremony was organised at the President House where President
  Mamnoon Hussain conferred the award on Mr. Xi.
• The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
  Federal Ministers, Members of National Assembly and Senate, Services Chiefs and
  Chinese delegation.
• Mr. Xi was given warm welcome on his arrival in the
  President House in a traditional buggy drawn by horses.
• He also held bilateral talks with Mr. Hussain, who later
  hosted a luncheon in his honour.

• Indian Railways on 21 April 2015 launched online monitoring
  mechanism E-Samiksha to monitor rail projects.
• It aims at monitoring implementation of various ongoing
  projects of Indian Railways on real-time basis including Rail Budget proposals.

• It was designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• It has been developed to make it a highly interactive
  web-based, user-friendly and customised system.
• It will be used to monitor budget-related projects and also
  for monitoring the infrastructure target and board meeting follow-up.
• It will be used by Cabinet Secretariat, Prime Minister’s
  Office and other Ministries for monitoring progress implementation of various
  programmes and follow-up of meetings.

• Maharashtra Government on 20 April 2015 announced the target
  of 14400 MW power generation by 2019.
• The state government will produce 14400 MW electricity by
  2019 by way of non-conventional methods to cut down cost and reduce carbon
  footprint. The non conventional source of energy is cheaper and far better as
  compared to conventional sources.
• Out of the 14400 MW electricity target, the state government
  has proposed that 75000 MW of electricity will be generated from solar energy
  while wind mills will generate 5000 MW of power.
• Sugar industries will help in creating 1000 MW, cogeneration
  will generate 200 MW, biogas will generate 300 MW and industrial waste will
  generate 400 MW.
• For instance, there are many sugar factories located in
  western Maharashtra, thus 1000 MW electricity will be generated from that
  region
• Also to meet the target, the power generated by private
  players will be purchased by the government as well.

• Since its launch for iOS in August 2012, Cleartrip has been
  committed to offer iOS users the best travel app experience possible on iOS devices.
• From being the first to support Passbook on iOS, to the
  first to redesign the app for iOS 7, and the first travel app in India to have
  a universal app for iPhone and iPad, the Cleartrip app for Apple Watch is
  another big first to add to that list.
• The idea with the Watch app is to give users the information
  they need, when they need it, in the most lightweight manner possible. Opening
  the Cleartrip app on the Apple Watch will show travellers a concise list of all
  their upcoming flights.
• The app can also be enabled through the Watch app on your
  iPhone which, in turn, can be synced with your Apple Watch.

• Egypt’s ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was on
  Tuesday sentenced to 20 years in jail by a court here over charges related to
  the killing of 10 protesters when he was in power, the first ruling against the
  country’s first freely elected leader.
• The 63-year-old former president was, however, acquitted of
  murder charges in the killing outside the presidential palace in December, 2012
  that would have seen him face the death penalty. Besides Morsi, the criminal
  court sentenced 12 other top Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including senior
  figures Mohamed el-Beltagy and Essam el-Erian, to 20 years in jail as they
  stood in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom at the national
  police academy here.
• Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef read out the ruling against him,
  the first in the case, but can be appealed. The sentencing was broadcast live
  on state television. The conviction and no strong reactions from the party show
  the dramatic downfall of Egypt’s once-powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its
  leader.

• Japan’s state-of-the-art Maglev train clocked a new world
  speed record Tuesday in a test run near Mount Fuji, smashing through the 600
  kilometre (373 miles) per hour mark, as Tokyo races to sell the technology
  abroad.
• The seven-car Maglev train — short for “magnetic
  levitation” — hit a top speed of 603 kilometres an hour, and managed
  nearly 11 seconds at over 600kph, operator Central Japan Railway said.
• The new record came less than a week after the company
  recorded a top speed of 590 kph, breaking its own 2003 record of 581 kph. The
  Maglev hovers 10 centimetres (four inches) above the tracks and is propelled by
  electrically charged magnets.
• About two hundred train buffs gathered to Tuesday’s
  record-setting run, with the crowd cheering as the train broke through 600 kph
  per hour.

• Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli on 20 April 2015 announced to
  set up his chain of gyms and fitness centres with the investment of 90 crore
  rupees.
• The gyms will be launched under the brand name Chisel. The
  brand is jointly owned by Kohli, Chisel Fitness and CSE, the sister concern of
  Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment.
• It is to be known that India’s ODI captain Mahendra Singh
  Dhoni already has his fitness chain across the country. Also, Kohli co-owns
  Indian Super League football franchise FC Goa and also has his clothing line
  for youths Wrogn.
• The country’s fitness industry comprising branded fitness
  chains and standalone gyms is pegged at around 1300 crore rupees.

• Novak Djokovic of Serbia on 20 April 2015 won his second
  Monte-Carlo Masters title of Tennis. In the final clash played at Monte-Carlo,
  Monaco, Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
• With this win, 27-year-old Djokovic also became the first
  player to sweep the opening three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of a
  season. The previous two titles were won at Indian Wells and Miami.
• This was 17th straight win for the world No.1 and a 23rd
  Masters Crown in total, which equals with Roger Federer for second on the
  titles list.

• Archana Girish Kamath and Anezka Ilcikova, the Indo-Czech
  Republic pair won the cadet girls’ doubles table tennis title at the French
  junior and cadet open on 19 April 2015 in Metz, France.
• In the title clash, Archana and Anezka defeated the French
  pair of Lucie Gauthier and Leili Mostafavi 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 and
  clinched the gold medal.
• 2015 French Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF Premium Junior
  Circuit was held at Metz, France from 15 April to 19 April 2015.
• The Bengaluru player Archana, who is the reigning sub-junior
  national table tennis champion, also claimed a bronze medal in the team event
  after a loss in the semifinals.

• Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar was on 20
  April 2015 appointed as chief adviser of the Board of Control for Cricket in
  India’s (BCCI) Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU). He will have a term
  of one year, that is, till 2016. Kumar succeeded Ravi Sawant.
• His appointment was made during Governing Council Meeting of
  the Indian Premier League (IPL) chaired by IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla in New
  Delhi.
• Neeraj Kumar is a 1976 batch IPS officer of the AGMU cadre.
  Earlier, he has served as the Delhi Police commissioner for 13 months i.e. from
  June 2012 to July 2013.

• Ninth Civil Services Day was observed across India on 21
  April 2015. The day is observed by all Civil Services to re-dedicate and
  re-commit themselves to the cause of the people.
• To mark the Day, a two-day programme was organised by the
  Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances began from 20 April
  2015.
• A series of Panel Discussions was organised at the Vigyan Bhawan.
  The Ninth Civil Services Day focuses on Minimum Government, Maximum Governance
  with specific sectoral emphasis on Social Sector, Housing, Employment &
  Skill Development and Agriculture.
• On this occasion, all officers of Central and State
  Governments are honoured for excellence in public administration. The Prime
  Minister will confer the Awards to winners of outstanding initiatives in Public
  Administration for the years 2012–13 and 2013-14.

• Former Governor of Assam and three-time Chief Minister of
  Odisha Janaki Ballabh Patnaik died on 21 April 2015 in Tirupati. He was 89.
• Born on 3 January 1927, in Rameshwar, Puri, Patnaik was a
  senior leader of Indian National Congress. He served Odisha as its Chief
  Minister from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999.
• He also served Assam as its Governor from 2009 to 2014.
• In 1947, he passed out with a degree in Sanskrit from the
  Utkal University and secured an MA degree in Political Science from the Banaras
  Hindu University in 1949. In 1950, he became the President of the Odisha state
  unit of the youth wing of the Congress. In 1980, he became the Union Minister
  for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Labour.

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